History

The county is named after Revolutionary War General Peter Horry (1747-1815).[1]

Parent County

1801--Horry County was created 19 December 1801 within the overarching Georgetown District. Prior to that time it was called Kingston County or on the 1800 federal census Waccamaw County but these never became functioning counties.[2]County seat: Conway [3]

Boundary Changes

Record Loss

Federal troops rifled and vandalized courthouse offices in 1865; many loose papers and volumes of the clerk of court (including early deeds to 1828) were destroyed. The files of the commissioner of equity were virtually wiped out, and loose probate papers left in disarray. At some later date, pre-1887 General Sessions Indictments were lost as well.

The preceding list of places includes incorporated cities and towns, unincorporated towns and communities, and place names that may have been used in family histories. Some have well-organized records and even have web sites. Some are simply social communities with no official records, but which may be referenced in small-town newspapers. The list is provided to help researchers identify localities within the county. As records or histories of these localities are identified, a page will be added for each of these place names.

1810, 1820, 1830, 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930 federal population schedules of Horry County are available online. For tips on accessing census records online, see South Carolina Census. If you're having trouble finding your ancestors in online indexes, try checking printed indexes. Created by local experts familiar with the area's families, these indexes are often transcribed more accurately than online nationwide indexes.

1850

Woodard, Janet H. Population Schedules of the Seventh Census of the United States, 1850, Roll 854, Horry County, South Carolina Original Returns of the Assistant Marshals, White and Free Colored Population. 1980. FHL Collection 975.787 X29w 1850

[Tindall] Tindall, Anne Gibson. The Family of John G. Tindall of Horry County, SC and Allied Families. Hemingway, S.C.: Three Rivers Historical Society (South Carolina), [199-?]. FHL Book 929.273 T492tg.

Land

Because of South Carolina’s history as an agricultural state many residents owned land. For more information about types of land records see South Carolina Land and Property.

Tracing records through South Carolina county and district changes can be difficult. In general, for earliest records begin by searching the Charleston District, then your ancestor’s residential district, then neighboring districts, then the residential county, then neighboring counties. Not all districts and counties kept records. The following chart show where you may best expect to find land records for Horry County:

Tracing Land Currently in Horry County with Parent Counties and Districts[6]

Date

Government Office

1868-Present

Horry County

1801-1865

Horry District *

1769-1801

Georgetown District Records Lost

1719-1769

Charleston District

1710-1719

Proprietary Land Grants

* Deed books E, G, and H are missing

Plats For State Land Grants 1784-1868

This series consists of recorded copies of plats for state land grants for the Charleston and the Columbia Series with their certificates of admeasurement or certification. All personal names and geographic features on these plats are included in the repository's On-line Index to Plats for State Land Grants

The South Carolina Constitution of 1790 required the surveyor general to maintain offices in both the new capital at Columbia and in Charleston. The surveyor general began to use separate volumes for recording plats in his Columbia office in 1796. Before that, all plats were recorded in the set of volumes begun in Charleston in 1784. After 1796, most plats for land grants in the Upper Division of the state were recorded and filed in Columbia. The surveyor general chose to make the Columbia volumes a continuation of the state plat volumes begun in Charleston and gave the initial Columbia volume the number thirty-six to correspond with the number of the volume that had then been reached in the Charleston series. As a result, there are volumes numbered thirty-six through forty-three from each office, but the records in them are not duplicative.

Also included are the Plan Books containing Plats and Plans.

Local Histories

The Independent Republic of Horry, 1670-1970: Items from the Independent Republic Quarterly, Official Publication of the Horry County Historical Society. Conway, S.C.?: The Society?, 1970. Digital version at Ancestry ($).

Lewis, Catherine Heniford. Horry County, South Carolina, 1730-1993. (Columbia, South Carolina : University of South Carolina Press, c1998), 229 pages. Horry County's past does not fit neatly into South Carolina history, Lewis demonstrated its decided differences--political, social, and economic--from other regions of the state. Book found at FHL 975.787 H2L and Other Libraries.

Epps, Florence Theodora , editor; Horry County Historical Society. The Independent Republic of Horry, 1670-1970 : items from The Independent republic quarterly, official publication of the Horry County Historical Society (South Carolina : s.n., 1970?), 100 pages. Family letters, photographs, accounts, and documents are accurate through the pages of The Independent Republic Quarterly. Book found at FHL FHL 975.787 H25ia and Other Libraries.

Maps

Migration

Early migration routes to and from Horry County for European settlers included:[7]

War of 1812

List of Pensioners on the Roll, January 1, 1883; Giving the Name of Each Pensioner, the Cause for Why Pensioned, the Post-Office Address, the Rate of Pension Per Month, and the Date of Original Allowance... Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1883. FHL Collection 973 M2Lp v. 5; digital versions at Google Books and Internet Archive. [See Vol. 5, South Carolina, Horry County, p. 185. Identifies War of 1812 veterans living in this county in 1883.]

Civil War (1861-1865)

Civil War service men from Horry County served in various regiments. Men often joined a regiment or a company (within a regiment) that originated in their county. Listed below are companies that were formed in Horry County or from many of its men.

Newspapers

The Library of Congress has identified the following historic newspapers for Horry County, South Carolina on their Chronicling America website. For publication details, including dates of publication, frequency, preceding and succeeding titles, and to find out which libraries have holdings, click on the newspaper title.

Periodicals

Tap into the minds of local experts. Editors of genealogical periodicals publish unique sources that researchers new to their area may not encounter. Periodicals at various levels (county, region, and state) may carry articles useful to research in this area. For this county, see:

Independent Republic Quarterly

Probate

Probate is the “court procedure by which a will is proved to be valid or invalid” and encompasses “all matters and proceedings pertaining to the administration of estates, guardianships, etc.”[8] Various types of records are created throughout the probate process. These may include, wills, bonds, petitions, accounts, inventories, administrations, orders, decrees, and distributions. For further information see probate records in South Carolina.

Probate Records, 1803-1873. Probate Court Horry County, South Carolina. Microfilm of original records in the Horry County courthouse, at Conway, South Carolina. FHL Film 1029438

Taxation

Tax-related records are kept by the offices of the county Assessor, Auditor, Sheriff, and Treasurer. Taxes were levied on real and personal property and can help establish ages, residences, relationships, and the year an individual died or left the area. They can be used as substitutes for missing or destroyed land and census records.

South Carolina Department of Archives and History tax lists for Horry County.

Published abstracts

Vital Records

Birth, marriage, and death records were not recorded by South Carolina until the 1900s, thus leaving a lack of vital records. Substitute records, when available, are used to obtain this information. These substitute records including newspapers, court records have been added to this section, when applicable.

Birth

State-wide birth registration began in 1915. For a copy of a birth from 1915 or later, contact the South Carolina Department of Health. The Horry County Health Department also has copies but they provide only an abbreviated form with limited information. For more information, see the South Carolina Vital Records page.

Marriage

In South Carolina, marriage licenses were not required by local governments until 1 July 1911. However, in the 1700s, the Church of England parish churches were required to record all marriages - even if the couple were not members of the denomination. Not all churches recorded these marriages and some have not survived. See South Carolina Vital Records for more information.

↑Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed. (Draper, Utah: Everton Pub., 2002), 847-61. (FHL Book 973 D27e 2002) WorldCat entry., and William E. Myer, Indian Trails of the Southeast. (Nashville, Tenn.: Blue and Gray Press, 1971), 12-14, and the book's pocket map "The Trail System of the Southeastern United States in the early Colonial Period" (1923). (FHL Book 970.1 M992i) WorldCat entry.